The Engineer: Even if he's a poor fighter himself, the models he builds are sought after by numerous other Gunpla Battle players for their quality.

Though the final episode reveals this is only because he subconsciously didn't want to see his models get damaged. Sei proves to be an excellent pilot once conquering this fear.

Energy Absorption: The Star Build Strike's shield can absorb any energy fire, the energy it takes is used for the Discharge system.

Expy: Of Joey Jones. They have the same voice actress, both enjoy building model or toy robots, both have fantasies of heroism, both look up to their fathers, but much more closely resemble their mothers.

Genre Savvy: Sei's knowledge of the Gundam series allows him to create clever traps he had seen in various Gundam series.

Guy in Back: Sei is essentially this for Reiji, serving as a flight engineer, combat strategist and additional set of eyes.

Hot-Blooded: Starts off as a sweet kid, but becomes increasingly amped up during the Gunpla World Championship to near Tatsuya levels of intensity during the final battle.

Irony: Sei is very good at making Gunpla, and his father was a world champion-level Gunpla Battler… but Sei himself has crap reflexes, so he has to rely upon someone else to "pilot" his machines, while he is relegated to Mission Control.

Well… at first, anyway. By Episode 23, that ends, and Episode 25 shows him being just as badass as Reiji. It also turns out that the reason his reflexes were crap was because of his subconscious desiring to avoid too much damage in his creation.

Logical Weakness: As many have pointed out, the energy absorption system of the Star Build Strike is useless against solid/shell weaponry. Also, It cannot absorb energy levels that are too high like Gundam X Maoh's cannon blast. Lastly, anyone who can figure out how long the discharge system lasts can use it to their advantage.

Moe Anthropomorphism: Played with. His color scheme, along with the design of his casual clothes (especially his 4 point star t-shirt), evoke a cute kid version of Federation mecha designs from the UC continuity in Gundam.

Next Tier Power-Up: Upgrades from the Build Strike to the Build Mk-II in episode 6, then Mk-II to Star Build Strike in episode 10.

Not What It Looks Like: He just wanted to talk about Gundam and Gunpla with Mihoshi and was more upset about losing a Gunpla-loving friend than her sabotaging the Build Strike's joints.

Took a Level in Badass: In Episode 23, he has a free battle against Reiji and manages to hold his own, thanks in part to Reiji's skills being balanced out by the Build Mk-II being a superior model to his straight-build Beginning Gundam.Lampshaded by Mao, who remarks that anyone who's participated in the World Championship, even with a partner, is bound to improve.

In Episode 25, he fights Meijin III to a standstill, and would probably have won.

To Be a Master: He wants one of the models he built to make it into the Gundam Battle world championships.

Tsundere: When it comes to Reiji. He often tells off his friend, while also really wanting to compete in Gunpla battles with him.

Weirdness Magnet: Seems to attract a lot of odd people, like Reiji and Mao. Also lampshades this fact.

Sei: Do you think I attract weird people? China: Yeah, I think so.

Willfully Weak: As it turns out, the reason for his poor piloting had nothing to do with a lack of skill. He was too worried about damaging his Gunpla to focus on the battle. As mentioned above, once he overcomes that fear, he turns out to be an excellent pilot.

A mysterious boy with an innate talent for Gunpla Battling. After a fateful encounter with Sei, the two of them quickly become friends and partners. However, he doesn't appear to be entirely of this world...

Big Eater: To the point where he ducks out on a black-tie party to mow through a sports tournament's worth of snack stalls.

Blatant Lies: Says he's a prince from a magical kingdom. Sei immediately brushes this story off as a lie, even if he knows Reiji is from somewhere otherworldly. Turns out Reiji might not be lying after all.

But Now I Must Go: In the finale the Arista crystal on his bracelet breaks, forcing him to go back to Arian.

Cassandra Truth: Sei does not believe him when he claims to be the prince of Arian, a country in a far off world. However, later events reveal that he was telling the truth, and also shows that Arian has connections to PPSE and the origins of the Plavsky Particles.

Chaste Hero: While Sei is shy and awkward, Reiji is downright dense. This is exploited for all it's worth in his interactions with Aila.

Fiery Redhead: Definitely qualifies as this when behind the controls; and even outside of battling, if his first encounter with Aila is to be considered.

Fish out of Water: He's doesn't appear to be from this Earth, having no idea what a school is or how outdoor shops work. This is because he's the prince from an alien planet.

Given Name Reveal: Through Chairman Mashita's Freak Out in Episode 21, his true name was revealed (at least to the viewers) as Aria von Reiji Asuna.

Graceful Loser: In episode 6, he finally gets his long-awaited battle against Yuuki...and BARELY loses. However, he's pretty cool about it, mainly because they put everything they had into the fight and so there's nothing to regret; Yuuki was just the better pilot.

Averted in regards to actually building Gunpla; it takes a lesson from Sei's father Takeshi to give him the skills to do so.

It's Personal: He explicitly states that he has no interest in Gunpla Battling until Yuuki defeats him in combat; Sei himself even notes that all Reiji cares about is revenge against Yuuki. Over time though, he's grown to enjoy how much fun Gunpla Battle can be.

Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Can come off as extremely harsh at first glance, but that's mainly due to his absolute lack of any form of tact. When you get to know him better, you'll find that he's a rather friendly guy.

Leeroy Jenkins: His signature opening. So bad that during the Battle Royal, his 'tactic' of recklessly charging enemies results in the Star Build's absorption shield being taken out of action during the opening minutes.

Moe Anthropomorphism: Played with. His color scheme, along with the design of his clothes (especially the neckline of his red vest), evoke a cute kid version of Zeon mecha designs from the UC continuity in Gundam.

Mysterious Stranger: Very little about his origin is clear when we first meet him, and the story he feeds Sei comes off as Blatant Lies. Turns out it was the truth after all.

Oblivious to Love: Due to his denseness, he has absolutely no idea that Alia is in love with him. He just thinks she's weird.

Official Couple: At the end of Episode 21, he and Aila become this, notwithstanding the fact that he still did not get why she came to him at Arian in the final episode.

Pretty Freeloaders: Moves in with Sei after the first episode. At first, Sei is pretty annoyed by this, but later relents when Reiji agrees to become his Gunpla fighter.

Unskilled, but Strong: As Nils observed, Reiji has innate piloting skills and possesses a very powerful Gunpla, but is still very inexperienced at Gunpla battling as a whole. Thus he depends on Sei to plan out most of his battle tactics.

Warrior Prince: Reiji's the crown prince of Arian, extremely competent in gunpla battles, and capable of knocking out an entourage of bodyguards single-handedly.

Will They or Won't They?: With Aila. In the end of Episode 21, They Do in the most hilarious, heartwarming, and spectacular way possible. At the end of Episode 25, she goes with him to Arian.

The Worf Effect: Gets hit with this in Episode 20 when he tries to intervene a berserk Aila's No-Holds-Barred Beatdown on Ricardo's Fenice with his Beginning Gundam. With a few swipes from Aila's spear, Reiji's Gunpla is shattered to pieces.

Sei's classmate and class representative. Sei's fascination with Gunpla (and her fascination with Sei) ends up sparking her own interest in the hobby, which eventually leads her to become a Gunpla battler herself.

Audience Surrogate: She knows very little about Gunpla, making her one of the main targets for in-show explanations about Gundam models and TV series.

Distaff Counterpart: To Sei. China's not necessarily the most experienced or talented fighter, but she proves herself to be a creative builder with her Bearguy III, such as stuffing it with cotton or utilizing a mask that can change expressions when under Plavsky particles.

Expressive Mask: Her model robot has a bear mask for a head. However, the eyes on this robotic mask can change into various expressions, like angry or sad, when under the Plavsky particles.

Giant Waist Ribbon: Her Bearguy has a big red ribbon for a backpack. According to the model, it's actually a SEED-style Striker Pack, which means the Bearguy can potentially use any Strikers — maybe even the Universal Booster!

Improbable Weapon User: Her Bearguy can use cotton as a weapon. For bonus points, China had no intention to use it as such; she simply stuffed too much inside.

Student Council President at Sei's school and Sei and Reiji's first major rival in Gunpla Battles. While he entered the same Gunpla qualifiers as Sei and Reiji (in order to get a chance to duel them in Gunpla Battle) he quickly backed out before their fated match...

The Ace: Already qualified for the previous year's word championships by the start of the series.

Badass Normal: The only one of the recurring rivals to not manipulate Plavsky Particles, instead relying on a high speed low drag gunpla, accurate gunplay and close combat skills.

Becoming the Mask: Defied. The alias of Meijin was give a negative look ever since the second Meijin, who was extremely ruthless and only cared about winning. Not only does Yuuki still care about Gunpla but he deliberately took the alias of Meijin to remove the negative outlook on it.

Blood Knight: Says himself that he wants a good Gunpla battle while wondering if he's being arrogant.

Averted as of Episode 22; the second Meijin had this kind of attitude, and Yuuki explicitly rejects it, saying that he wants Gunpla Battle to be fun and make people happy.

Brainwashed and Crazy: During Episode 23, after the improved Embody System is forced upon him by Chairman Mashita.

Initially uses a customized version of Char's Zaku II from Mobile Suit Gundam. He even has the nickname Crimson Comet, a play on Char's Red Comet moniker. That nickname is also a reference to a Char Clone from the Super Robot Wars series (Sleigh Prestly), who uses the same moniker but with a different translation (They're both 紅彗星, but in Sleigh's case, it's translated as "Scarlet Comet").

Guns Akimbo: His suits are usually fitted with a pair of pistols in addition to their other weapons, for whenever he wants to John Woo a fight up a little.

Gun Fu: Happens whenever one of his suits whips out a pair of pistols. Which is often.

Honor Before Reason: During the Battle Royale he gets ordered to ignore the Mega Zaku attacking Sei and Reiji. Instead he helps in secret by sniping the Zaku's foot, then chews out Chairman Mashita for his blatant cheating.

Hot-Blooded: Is incredibly passionate when it comes to Gunpla Battling.

This is lampshaded by his leitmotif, "The Crimson Comet - Three Times the Passion of an Ordinary Flamenco." And then there's his leitmotif as Meijin: "Meijin - Six Times the Passion of an Ordinary Flamenco."

Jumped at the Call: Downplayed. He's reluctant at first to take on the identity of Meijin Kawaguchi, and almost seems resigned after he aces the selection, but after a no-holds barred Gunpla Battle with Sei and Reiji at the school gym, he fully embraces the role of being Meijin Kawaguchi the Third.

Kinetic Weapons Are Just Better: Unusually for this franchise, the Zaku Amazing exclusively uses these rather than the conventional Energy Weapons. As for the 'just better' bit, it's one of the deadliest machines in the sport. Eventually subverted when he joins PPSE and starts getting even better suits, at which point we get to see what he can do with beam weaponry. Spoilers - it puts the Zaku Amazing's performance to shame.

Knife Nut: The Zaku Amazing uses a pair of vicious-looking heat machetes in close combat rather than the typical Laser Blades or the iconic Heat Hawk. The Kämpfer Amazing uses actual heat khukris.

Legacy Character: His Char Clone moniker is Meijin Kawaguchi III, after the real-life Gunpla building expert. Yuuki got roped in to replace Meijin Kawaguchi II, who fell ill and was unable to participate in the Gunpla Battle World Championship.

Large Ham: His Meijin role literally requires it as part of the character image. While he's capable of hamminess of his own accord, he finds the constant bombast when he's on the clock a bit tiring.

Lightning Bruiser: The Zaku Amazing is noted to be surprisingly fast for a heavily armored and armed Zaku (the heaviest of the Build Fighters original mechs, in fact) and having enough strength to crush a large caliber beam rifle with its fingers. It's probably the Char colors.

And then there's the Amazing Exia. Which happens to be the incomplete Exia Dark Matter.

Man in White: His PPSE uniform, which is only visible after he sheds his Meijin garb.

Mid-Season Upgrade: Upgrades from his Zaku Amazing to a customized dark blue Kämpfer Amazing in episode 7. Then upgrades to the Amazing Exia in Episode 22. Then upgrades to the Exia Dark Matter the following episode.

Mr. Fanservice: There's that long pan of him in very tight clothes while working out at the gym in Episode 15...

Multi-Ranged Master: The Kämpfer Amazing's Binders usually carry one or two weapons which the suit can use with deadly efficiency. The Binders can currently hold one or two of the follow: beam pistols, beam sub machine gun, a long rifle, a beam rifle, a missile launcher, and a gatling gun.

Nice Guy: Despite being Sei's rival, he's very friendly and admires Sei's model-building skills, and even expresses an interest in having him join the school's modeling club. He also does his best to avoid damaging his opponents' Gunplas out of respect for the time and effort they put into creating them.

He also dons the Meijin name specifically to change its image from that of a Jerk Ass who only seeks victory to someone who loves Gunpla because it's fun and makes people happy.

Red and Black and Evil All Over: Although he is not evil he does wear a sinister looking red and black uniform during the final match of the Tournament due to being Brainwashed and Crazy by the Embody system. The Exia Dark Matter also has the Exia's normal blue and white colors switched to red and black, giving it a very menacing look.

Red Oni, Blue Oni: To himself, switching between a laid-back builder and a hotblooded fighter. The color schemes of his various gunpla reflect this, as he switches back and forth between red and blue machines throughout the franchise.

The Rival: Serves as Sei and Reiji's first major opponent in Gunpla Battles.

Simple Yet Awesome: The Kämpfer Amazing is shockingly no-frills for a top-tier Gunpla. It doesn't have a Wave Motion Gun, it's not a Transforming Mecha, and it doesn't have a gimmick making clever use of Plavsky Particles to give it an edge. It's just a superbly-engineered, high-performance suit with ergonomic weapon storage that gives it a tool for every conceivable job.

That Man Is Dead: After taking on the title of Meijin Kawaguchi, he boldly proclaims that he is no longer Yuuki Tatsuya, nor was he ever a student at Seiho Academy. The trope is somewhat subverted, however, as this turns out to be merely a persona he puts on when in the presence of others. Also, Sei and Reiji don't fall for it.

Walking Armory: The Kämpfer Amazing's detachable Amazing Weapon Binders contain... well, an amazing amount of weaponry, like handguns, submachineguns, sniper rifles, gatling guns, and rocket launchers. This makes it one of the most versatile suits in the sport. Thanks to a clever engineering decision by PPSE, it also avoids the Logical Weakness that plagues most walking armories - the Binders contain additional thrusters, meaning they enhance the Kämpfer's speed and manoeuvrability rather than reducing it.

Casanova Wannabe: A variant. He does manage to attract women, but only for about ten seconds apiece before ruining his chances completely.

This seems to depend at least partially on his proximity to thirteen-year-olds. His record seems to be pretty good offscreen.

The Charmer: How does he hit on ladies? By giving them a Gunpla and comparing it to them.

Chick Magnet: Has caused so many women to leave their boyfriends that the latter have formed a coalition to defeat him! And he claims that every one of said women came to him.

Deflector Shields: The Fenice's left shoulder is equipped with a "Beam Mantle" instead of a physical shield.

Determinator: As Episode 15 shows, when Ricardo Fellini decides to fight for real, he will go all out, no matter how bad the odds.

Episode 20 just adds to it: during the closing stages of his match against Aila, he knew that his Fenice could not handle the beating even if he could. So he decides to give Fenice a massive send-off by having it latch on to Qubeley Papillon's spear, then activating the Self-Detonation device; his actions caused genuine panic on Team Nemesis.

Fashionable Asymmetry: His Wing Gundam Fenice is much fancier on its left side than its right. Purposely done according to the HG manual. Does away with this after rebuilding it as the Rinascita.

Friendly Rival: His relationship with Greco. Made even more symbolic with the latter preferring the Tallgeese.

Falls into this dynamic with Sei and Reiji as well, especially after the events of episode 15.

Gratuitous Italian: Will randomly break into his native Italian, despite being fully fluent in Japanese.

Luminescent Blush: The Gundam Fenice Rinascita gets one when Kirara's Gerbera Tetra glomps it in Episode 23. Lampshaded by animation director Masami Obari on Twitter, where he said "Even though I know they're just Gunpla, now I have to live with having added blush marks to a Mobile Suit for the rest of my life..."

Mentor Archetype: For Reiji, who he helps train to become a better Gunpla battler.

Meaningful Name: Surprisingly, Fenice (meaning Phoenix) does not refer to the transformation sequence, as Fellini had ignored the gimmick. The name instead referred to the fact that he kept rebuilding it even after losses.

Also, Gundam Fenice Rinascita, Italian for "reawakening" or "reborn", after he rebuilds Fenice into its new form. Also a little lampshade hanging of a Lawyer-Friendly Cameo, given that Rinascita is essentially Fenice with strong Reborns Gundam influences.

Scars Are Forever: Not on him, but on his Wing Gundam Fenice. It has noticeable damage on its head and its left shoulder armor is missing. He could've fixed them at any time but decides not to, as they are proof of the long history of battles he and his prized gunpla had gone through.

Shoulder Cannon: The Fenice has a large beam gun built into its right pauldron.

Sore Loser: After getting defeated by Aila, he prepares to deliver a last 'screw you' by activating the Fenice's self-destruct system, only for Mihoshi to loudly and emphatically point out that he'd be irreparably damaging one of his most prized possessions in a manoeuvre that would be unlikely to even force a draw. He realises he's falling into this trope and stands down.

Taking You with Me: Attempted to use Fenice's Self-Detonation device during its losing battle against Qubeley Papillon. Kirara apparently calls him out of it.

Weak, but Skilled: As Nils points out, his machine doesn't perform as well as newer Gunpla like the Star Build Strike. However he more than compensates for the performance gap with his experience and tactics.

A fellow Gunpla Builder like Sei from Kyoto. He once sought to be accepted in the prestigious Gunpla Shingyo School, but was refused because the master of the said school told him that even a master like him once feared another man, that being Sei's father.

Bunny-Ears Lawyer: The kid is an amazing model-builder, but he apparently thinks he can pay for goods and services with his models.note And no, it's not egotism

Camp Straight: More or less a screaming fangirl in a boy's body, whether it's about Gunpla, or as revealed in Episode 7, his actual love interest.

Keet: One of, if not the shortest in the cast, and a rather hyperactive one when not in serious mode. Look no further than the time that he first met Sei.

Large Ham: He introduces himself like he's a Saturday morning cartoon superhero. Both Sei and China are embarrassed enough to try to leave. Mao then says he'll do the short version, and does the entire speech again, only faster.

Loophole Abuse: In the third round of World Tournament, where everyone is only allowed to a weapon that is chosen at random, he ends up with a rather useless paint gun while his opponent gets a massive hammer. As he gleefully points out after the fact, the rules never said they couldn't steal the opponent's weapon and use it against them.

Theme Naming: His two Gunplas both have XNote Although in the Crossbone Maoh's case, the "Cross" part serves as the "X" bit and "Maoh" on their names.

Villain Forgot to Level Grind: When first introduced, Mao was a builder at or above Sei's level, and Gundam X Maoh was superior to Build Strike. By the time they fight in the World Tournament, Sei had rebuilt Build Strike several times, which left Mao at a distinct disadvantage. He fixes this with the Crossbone Maoh.

Wave Motion Gun: The Gundam X Maoh features an upgraded version of the original Gundam X's Satellite Cannon that does not need to be charged by the Microwave Laser. The Crossbone Gundam Maoh has a similar cannon hidden inside the skull on its chest.

The Worf Effect: In episode 22, he is annihilated effortlessly and off-screen by the newly-arrived Julian Mackenzie and his F91 Imagine.

X Makes Anything Cool: The mark on his hat, and both his main GunplaNote Although in the Crossbone Maoh's case, the "Cross" part serves as the "X" bit of the trope.

Yin-Yang Bomb: In episode 17, the Gundam X Maoh is customized to be powered by both the solar panels on its wings alongside the traditional Satellite System on the moon. Both are used simultaneously to power its ultimate weapon, the Maoh Sword.

A Gunpla Fighter from America who was known as the "Early Genius" for earning his three Ph.D degrees at a very young age. He entered the Gunpla World Tournament to obtain information on Plavsky Particles.

Awesomeness by Analysis: He incorporates both scientific and tactical information to dominate his opponents. Case in point, his gundpla can gut through beams with its katana by synchronizing the katana's anti-beam wavelength with the opposing beam's wavelength, thus cancelling each other out. Note that he does this in the middle of a match.

Badass Bookworm: He may be a small nerdy little dude, but above his potent martial-arts skills he uses his brain power to fight. Leading to some of the best gunpla kill moments, as he analyzes and dissects his opponent piece by piece, and even in one case manages to hang them by the neck with a Yo-Yo.

Becoming the Mask: He initially viewed Gunpla and the tournament as a means to further his goals, but during his battle with Sei and Reiji he truly gains a passion for it.

Nils: The next time we battle, I'll definitely win!

Berserk Button: Reiji and Sei managing to deal heavy damage to his favorite Astray proved to be the last step for him finally admitting to liking Gunpla. He loses his composure (even shaking with rage while fixing it) and goes full Hot-Blooded in the ensuing second round.

Black and Nerdy: He's African American, has 3 scientific doctorates, and an obsession with Samurai culture.

The Comically Serious: Being the most strait-laced member of the main cast doesn't work out too well when you're in a series as goofy as Build Fighters.

Color Failure: In Episode 19, when Caroline starts calling him her boyfriend.

Nils: Boyfriend?! Am I the Boyfriend?!

Combat Pragmatist: His goal is to get far enough into the tourney to research the Plavsky Particles, and nothing else, and thus takes the safe route through the matches. During the battle royale, he notes that the only objective is to survive the match, not defeat others, so he spends most of the battle hunkering down and letting the more Hot-Blooded players thin themselves out. In episode 19, he even meets with Sei and Reiji to suggest he lose to them on purpose. Sei was having none of it.

Common Mary Sue Traits: His father is a detective, his mother knows martial arts, he has a black belt in karate and judo, has gone to America's top university, has three PhDs, can manipulate Plavsky particles to their full use, and is only thirteen. Oh yeah, and he curb stomps a twenty year Gunpla vet.

Chrome Champion: His suits all incorporate metallic paint, like his gold plated Hyaku Shiki, or the silver plated Knight Gundam he makes for Caroline. Even his Sengoku Astray uses chrome red for its highlights.

Defeat Equals Friendship: Becomes noticeably more relaxed and friendly after Episode 19, and joins Mao in hanging out with Sei and Reiji in-between matches.

For Science!: Enters the World Championship Tournament after discovering Plavsky Particle creation has wider reaching scientific applications. It's all just so he can find out why they aren't being used for science.

Multi-Armed and Dangerous: The large shoulder pauldrons on the Sengoku are capable of moving separately to the shoulders and gripping its swords on their own, allowing it to invoke I Am Not Left-Handed by maintaining a Badass Arm-Fold while chopping you to death with its shoulders until Nils feels like it's time to use his Gunpla's actual hands.

Ninja: Literally becomes one whenever he wants to spy on PPSE's affairs.

His yo-yo technique during the Battle Weapon fight is a shout out to a TV drama about an Edo-era assassin (aka Ninja).

Averted when he actually does infiltrate the Plavsky Particle production plant. That sword really would have come in handy.

Also around the time of his match with Sei and Reiji, he becomes much more passionate about his Gunpla and battling, such as taking offense that Sei and Reiji broke his Sengoku Astray's arms during their fight and immediately looking forward to another battle with them after their match.

Otaku: For Samurai. His signature pose is even the "Samurai Hello" and his custom Astray is based on Samurai. Mr. Bushido would be proud.

Shout-Out: A subtle shout out to Nils Nilsson, a renowned American professor at Stanford University and researcher of artificial intelligence, among his other contributions to other fields of science.

Straw Vulcan: He looks at things from a logical, scientific standpoint, which often leaves him the odd man out in regards to the Gunpla Battle. This seems to come about because his primary reason for participating in the game is to learn about the Plavsky Particle rather than out of a fondness for Gundam, model-building, or competition. As the show goes on, however, he gets more into gunpla battling.

Sword Beam: Sengoku's Katanas can make these to deflect beams and to attack opponents with.

Supernatural Martial Arts: Nils incorporates the principle of "Fa Jin" into his Gunpla's hand to hand techniques, which means he can inject the Plavsky Particles from his Sengoku into his opponent's, destroying them from the inside out.

Teen Genius: Has earned three PhDs in Particle Physics, High Energy Physics, and Euclidean Space Physics by the age of thirteen.

Think Nothing of It: In Episode 12 he pulls a Big Damn Heroes that helps Sei and friends beat the Mega Size Zaku. Afterwards Fellini goes to say thanks, but Nils insists that he was just extending the battle so he could get a better gauge on the Star Build Strike. Fellini sees right through it, thinking to himself that the battle must have gotten Nils' blood pumping.

Blush Sticker: Gets a set in episode 22 when Rinko accepts her into her household so that she can "get close to Reiji".

Cannot Spit It Out: Notwithstanding the fact that she's been hanging out with Reiji after their battle, she still could not express her true feelings for him, even after wishing through the Arista to be with him at Arian.

Cherry Tapping: In her introductory battle, she takes out an elite player piloting the Devil Gundam with a Jegan. She doesn't even have an advantage in model quality. She's just that good.

Distaff Counterpart: To Reiji. They're both insanely talented fighters who aren't particularly big on the hobby side of the sport. She's also revealed to be a Big Eater like Reiji is, which leads to a Meet Cute.

Earn Your Happy Ending: She gets hers in Episode 21 after enduring a... less-than-idyllic childhood and poor treatment from Team Nemesis. Moreover, when Reiji returns to Arian in the finale, she is able to come along with him thanks to her having 'made a wish' through her Arista.

Emotionless Girl: Subverted. She behaves this way when Gunpla matters are involved, but it becomes more and more apparent that it's an assumed shell. Any remaining traces of this go out the window when she quits Team Nemesis in Episode 21.

Tsundere: Towards Reiji; perfectly illustrated in Episode 12 when she buys him a bag of meat buns, but claims she only did it so she wouldn't be indebted to himnote In the previous episode he took a meat bun from her bag of snacks and gave her more than enough money to buy another.

Lampshaded by a track on the OST, which is titled "Aila - Reiji's Custom Tsundere."

The Ace: When he played baseball, he had a batting average of 89.9%; to put that into perspective, earlier that episode Ral says that a normal batting average is around 30%. In regards to his piloting skills, Ral says Dallara's abilities are on par among the likes of Char Aznable, Johnny Ridden and Anavel Gato. To put into perspective, he fought Reiji and Mao at the same time, disables the Discharge system on the Build Strike, circles around so that neither Reiji or Mao can have a clear shot at him, and walks out unscathed. He is not called the "SUPER PILOT" for nothing.

Friendly Rivalry: Of course he wants to win, but he still likes Sei and Reiji and respects their talents and makes sure they understand that.

Genre Savvy: Is the first one to spot the weakness of Build Strike's Discharge system, and utilizes it.

Spirited Competitor: He asks Sei and Reiji to make sure they go all out in their fights. When Reiji says "We're still gonna win", Luang replies "That's the spirit!"

Awesomeness by Analysis: They were able to figure out exactly how much power the Star Build Strike absorbed at the start of the Gunpla Race just by watching; this ultimately lets them win because they know when Discharge Mode is about to run out.

Which is ironic since Yuuki was able to predict them placing bombs on his Gunpla's joints by studying their last battle.

Friendly Rivalry: Averted. They're the only major competitors to not be this to Sei and Reiji on any level. Considering that all they cared about was crushing the new Meijin, it's easy to understand why.

Jack-of-All-Trades: They use dozens of different Gunpla to fit any given match, only switching to their main model in the final championship tournament.

One-Man Army: A mobile suit that contain a backpack that can transform into a Dog-type mobile suit, which in itself contain a troop carrier containing 8x 1/144 soldiers (according to the Gunpla preview). Yeah, that qualifies it.

Robot Dog: Their backpack can transform into a robot dog suit with a sniper rifle for a head.

Serious Business: People tells them that they're taking Gunpla way too seriously with their tactics. This is from people who already treat Gunpla as Serious Business.

Super Mode: The GM Sniper K9 is fitted with the Blue Destiny's EXAM System, serving as a nasty surprise for anyone trying to engage them in close-quarters combat.

Weak, but Skilled: The GM Sniper K9 is unexceptional at direct combat but excels at ambush tactics and guile, to the point where it and its operators give the mighty Meijin Kawaguchi III a serious run for his money.

Subverted when they reveal the EXAM System, which allows the GM Sniper to out-speed the Kämpfer Amazing.

Becoming the Mask: In her initial appearance, she claimed that she was only involved in Gundam or Gunpla to further her idol career, and her Gerbera Tetra was built for her by fans. However, in episode 6 she's seen intently watching the finals of the qualifiers, and is shown to be very emotionally invested in the outcomes of matches during her stint as the mascot of the World Tournament.

During the Gunpla Festival in Episode 23, she joins in a Gunpla Battle with a Gerbera Tetra she built herself. Fellini remarks that while it's still pretty rough, it was built with time and care.

Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Mihoshi appears to be an avid fan of Gundam and Gunpla, sharing a bottle of tea with Sei and admiring the Build Strike's construction. She actually put laxative in the tea so she could scratch up Build Strike's joints while Sei ran to the bathroom.

The Bus Came Back: Returns for the world tournament arc in episode 10, after her initial defeat in episode 4. She's there as the tournament's image character.

Cheaters Never Prosper: Kirara nearly wins the match against Sei and Reiji after sabotaging Strike's limbs as Mihoshi. She still loses thanks to the Build Booster's transformation function.

Christmas Cake: Is actually 27 by the time the series rolls around. It's one of her primary motivations for wanting to be an idol and hit sucess NOW, because she's way past the normal expiry age for idols.note Most idols don't make it past 25.

Combat Pragmatist: Will use whatever it takes to win and further her idol career, including spying and sabotage. Interestingly, she isn't judged all that harshly for this - Reiji, for instance, thinks it's a perfectly reasonable strategy to use.

Her appearance for the episode 10 basically mix both aspect of Kirara and Mihoshi, with a dash of Wang Liu Mei mixed in.

She also has similarities with Saki Rukino and AkiraRenbokoji, 2 female characters from Valvrave the Liberator which is also created by Sunrise. As Kirara, she is also an idol like Saki and as Mihoshi, she has her hair tied in a long ponytail and also wears thick clothing like Akira. Finally, she is a pilot (Gunpla Fighter in this case) like the two.

Determinator: During her training to become a Gunpla Idol, she sat through 20+ shows of a franchise she barely understands, and memorized hundreds of obscure mobile suit variations from OVAs and other MSV lines. Whatever it took to realize her dream to become an idol.

Easily Forgiven: Despite her manipulating Sei and sabotaging his Gunpla before their battle, he doesn't hold it against her. Considering how seriously he takes Gunpla his building, you'd think he'd at at least be somewhat bitter about it. Reiji, as mentioned above, considers it a legitimate strategy, so he wasn't even upset, and is even glad to see she's still working as hard as she can to become an idol.

Heel-Face Turn: Starts out as an opponent of Sei and Reiji during the qualifiers arc, only to return as a supporter of their group during the world championships arc.

Honey Trap: Pretends to be interested in Sei so she can damage his Gunpla in episode 4.

Lady in Red: During the ball in episode 10. While her dress fits the part, her attempts to act sultry fall rather flat.

More Dakka: Her Gerbera Tetra uses a beam machinegun and an forearm autocannon. As a result, she fared a bit better than the other members of the gang in Episode 25 (until her beam MG overheated, anyhow).

Wacky Marriage Proposal: A variation: While Nils was tailing the trucks that contained Plavsky Particle crystals, she instantly appears behind him and insists that she accompany him, right before she declares him as her fiance.

Revenge Before Reason: Doesn't even try to advance in the tournament, instead focusing all his attentions on trying to take down Fellini.

There Is No Kill Like Overkill: In order to ensure his victory against Fellini, Cziommer built a model of a Gaw, a massive airborne MS carrier over a hundred meters in length armed with powerful cannons and a large amount of bombs, which he also used to carry five other contestants into battle along with him.

To put that in perspective, the series uses 1/144 models. That means that his Gaw is 50cm tall, and a meter wide. On top of that, this kit does not exist. That means it's a scratch build. A meter wide scratch build (In fact, Fellini actually complimented the build). Of course, it gets destroyed. Considering the sheer amount of time and effort it must have taken to make... Poor guy.

Villain Decay: The first time we see him fighting, he demonstrates a fair amount of skill. The second time, he actually gives the heroes a run for their money... until victory is inglamerously snatched away from him. It all goes downhill from there.

A gunpla fighter from Manchester, England, Julian was formerly a student of the Gunpla Academy alongside Tatsuya, before he quit gunpla three years ago. He now returns to gunpla to battle Meijin in the semifinals, replacing his grandfather who suffered a heart attack...

Ace Pilot: How good is he? In the past, Yuuki fought seven battles with him, and lost all of them. Three years ago, Julian was considered the best candidate to be Meijin III. If he'd had more practice and the F91 Imagine had been in better shape, Julian would have won their match.

Lightning Bruiser: The F91 Imagine. It's so fast, the Amazing Exia has to use Trans-Am to keep up with it.

Refusal of the Call: He was a shoo-in to be Meijin III, but Julian left because he disagreed with Meijin II's win at all cost philosophy.

Punny Name: Like Amazing, Imagine when pronounced with a Japanese accent sounds very similar to Meijin.

Retired Badass: Quit gunpla three years ago, and is only now coming back because his grandfather begged him to replace him.

Take Up My Sword: A variation, in that the gunpla his grandfather wants him to use is actually his.

PPSE

Allan Adams

Voiced by: Subaru Kimura

Main Gunpla: PPMS-18E Kämpfer Amazing

Chief Engineer at PPSE. He serves as Meijin Kawaguchi's right-hand man, providing him the necessary info and resources he needs for the tournament.

Benevolent Boss: All the other engineers under Allan at PPSE seem to like him. He's also not happy with the Mega Zaku's interference, which is probably why he doesn't discipline Meijin for helping stop it.

He is also absolutely pissed when PPSE forces the Embody system on Yuuki and tries to wrestle the controller away from Nines the first chance he gets.

The Engineer: Built Meijin Kawaguchi's custom Kämpfer Amazing, and designed and supervised the Amazing Exia.

Energy Weapon: the Kämpfer Amazing he designed uses numerous beam weapons, despite Meijin's former preference for the Kinetic kind.

The owner of the company producing both the Plavsky Particles and Gunpla models. He seems to know Reiji and bears a grudge against him.

Affably Evil: He is pretty childish and friendly, when he's not trying to do sinister things to get Reiji out of his hair.

Ambition Is Evil: Completely averted. His only goal is to be rich and live comfortably, and he doesn't use the plavsky particles for bigger purposes, be they sinister or good, because it would take too much work and he already has money.

Big Bad: He's the one pulling the strings in the world tournament arc to get Reiji out of the championships.

Big Bad Wannabe: He isn't very good at keeping Reiji out of the tournament. In fact, he just brings himself to Reiji's attention, the very thing he was trying to prevent, sooner.

Non-Action Big Bad: All he does in the series is order people to get rid of Sei and Reiji. When confronted, he's absolutely helpless.

Cut Lex Luthor a Check: Played with. Using the Plavsky Particles for gunpla battles has made him fabulously wealthy, but there are a myriad of other potential applications that could also make him money—such as the scientific applications Nilis is pushing for—if he would just stop being so narrow-minded and selfish. A straighter example occurs in episode twenty four, when mind control applications for the plavsky particles are discovered, but he shoots down the idea of using it to take over the world. Justified because he lacks the ambition to do that and feels it would take too much work. He's fine with just being rich.

Dark Secret: He is the only person who knows how to manufacture Plavsky Particles. The main reason he's gunning after Reiji is to stop him from revealing the information to the world.

Evil Counterpart: of Reiji. They both have little ambition and just cares about self satisfaction, and is friends with a much smarter Gunpla Fan. They are also both from Arian, although Mashita is a mere criminal.

Harmless Villain: When it's brought up that he could brainwash people into doing his bidding, like with Meijin Kawaguchi III, and use this to Take Over the World, he outright says it's too much work for him, and he's perfectly content being rich. The only reason he's motivated into doing anything villainous at all is his fear of being taken back to Arian and arrested for stealing from the Royal Treasury.

Irony: The chairman of the Gunpla Battle making corporation is absolutely clueless about Gundam. His own secretary has to tell him what a Zaku is called, one of the most iconic symbols in the series.

Karma Houdini: Zig-zagged; while Mashita never gets explicitly punished for stealing the Arista, he does end up teleporting back to Arian after the crystal is destroyed, meaning he loses his ill-gotten fortune. However, Baker went with him, and the last we see is them selling Gunpla on the streets of Arian, making an honest living and looking pretty happy.

Rags to Riches: Was a petty thief in Arian, who managed to found PPSE and use the giant Arista for Gunpla battle.

The Reveal: In Episode 24, we find out the reason why he's willing to do anything to stop Reiji from winning the tournament. He was a thief back in Arian and is afraid that Reiji would arrest him if the latter found out he stole the Arista from Reiji's palace.

Revealing Coverup: Everything he does to get Reiji and Sei kicked out of the competition just draws more and more attention to himself.

Hyper Competent Sidekick: She handles most of the Chairman's business, and has the extensive knowledge of Gundam and Gunpla her boss seems to lack. Not to mention her reflexes are above par as well, since she realizes that her and the Chairman are being eavesdropped on in episode 15.

Sexy Secretary: Serves as the secretary of the head of PPSE, while also being a very attractive woman.

Sharp-Dressed Man: Can always been seen in an attractive blue business jacket and skirt number.

Stay with the Aliens: When Mashita begins to warp back to Arian, Baker grabs him and is teleported there with him. In the epilogue they are seen selling Gunpla to the Arian people.

Undying Loyalty: Continues carrying out Mashita's plans happily, despite being given no good reason for trying to cheat two kids out of one of PPSE's major events. And when Mashita is returned to Arian, she unhesitatingly goes with him.

A man who will accept any job and carry it out to perfection, as long as the price is right. He is hired by Baker to keep Sei and Reiji from reaching the World Championship finals.

Combat Tentacles: The Hell Zeong Marine is built with a huge set of these for legs.

Evil Is Petty: His attack on Reiji at the mall would have served no long-term purpose - it wouldn't have eliminated him from the tournament or damaged a strategically-vital suit. He just wanted to ruin a kid's day.

Fatal Flaw (Pride): He did not take not being able to destroy the Star Build Strike well. His quest to finish the job is what ultimately does him in.

Mysterious Mercenary Pursuer: Little is known about him other than him being hired to make Sei and Reiji lose the race period during the championships.

The Voiceless: He only talks to Baker over the phone but we never hear what he had said.

Very supportive of China's pursuit of her son, going so far as to peek their conversation in the compressor room. She also spared no effort in pushing her towards Sei during the Beach Episode.

As of episode 22, she also seems quite supportive of Aila's feelings for Reiji.

Sweater Girl: usually wears a yellow one. And she certainly wears it well.

Wingding Eyes: Gets these whenever she gets excited about Sei and China's relationship.

Takeshi Iori

Voiced by: Tokuyoshi Kawashima (Japanese) and Seth Leslie (English)

Main Gunpla: RX-78-2 Gundam, PF-78-1 Perfect Gundam

Sei's father and previous runner-up of the second Gunpla Battle Tournament. Is currently tending to Gunpla-related activities overseas.

The Ace: Came in second place in the first Gunpla Battle world championships. And he's a pretty competent hand-to-hand fighter too.

Ace Pilot: Considering he competed in the World Championships with nothing more than the basic RX-78-2 when literally every other contender flew a top-grade custom unit, one can assume he's right up there with Master Chinnan in terms of raw skill and experience.

Badass: Placed second in a Gunpla Battle World Championship, piloting the RX-78-2, and handed C his ass on a silver platter. Well, porcelain urinal.

Combat Referee: Is an official PPSE ref, and busts "C" after he interferes in Reiji and Aila's casual battle.

Drill Sergeant Nasty: A humorous version, when he teaches Reiji and Aila to build Gunpla he starts acting like this, even telling them that the only words he should hear out of their mouths are "Sir, Yes Sir!"

Happily Married: In Episode 16, when he finds the model store is closed, he sobs about how he came all this way to see Rinko again and starts shouting "I LOVE YOU RINNY!" in an attempt to find her.

His reunion with his family in Episode 23 is a thing of heartwarming feels.

Like Father, Like Son: When Reiji meets him in Episode 16, Takeshi acts a lot like Sei, fanboying over Gunpla before acting super-strict about building them. Reiji even thinks to himself "Who does this old guy remind me of?"

Men Can't Keep House: Without his wife, he seems to be only capable of subsisting on a combination of instant food and bottled drinks, the cartons of which he can't even be bothered with to dispose of properly.

A regular at the Iori Model shop, and an acquaintance of Sei's parents. Ral takes Reiji under his wing and shows him a thing or two about Gunpla Battle. In Gundam Build Fighters Try, he's the coach of Seiho Academy's Gunpla Battle Club.

Berserk Button: Do NOT mess with a legitimate Gunpla Battle. He will fight you if you do.

The Dreaded: No one who knows him dares to cross him. Even a Japanese gangster / land shark like Tatsuzo the Burning.

Hopeless Suitor: Has a rather obvious crush on Rinko, Sei's mother, but the fact that she's Happily Married sorta throws a wrench into the whole thing. Not that he seems to mind, looking on approvingly as she reunites with her husband, while shooting a disapproving look at Master Chinnan, who just sighs with disappointment, said reunion interrupting his ogling of Rinko's chest.

Shipper on Deck: Some people misinterpreted his protective nature towards Sei's mom as Ship Teases, but it just turns out that he's very approving of her relationship with her husband, and nods his head in approval upon witnessing their reunion.

Grandmaster of the Gunpla Shingyo School and Mao's teacher. A Buddhist monk, in addition to collecting Gunpla, he collects figures of female characters from various Gundam series. Believes that Gunpla must reflect its builder's heart and uses this as the main principle of the Gunpla Shingyo School.

Boke and Tsukkomi Routine: His revealing of who his favorite female Gundam character is treated as one with him as the boke and Mao as the Tsukomi.

Cool Old Guy: Is an aged Buddhist monk, but enjoys building Gunpla and competing in Gunpla battles.

Dirty Old Man: When asked by Mao who his favorite female Gundam character is, his thoughts immediately go to Murrue Ramius and her penchant for Gainaxing. Not to mention he owns figurines of a number of famous Gundam heroines.

Expy: Of Master Asia to a point. He basically serves as this to Mao's Domon. Also fond of going into a one legged crane stance, just like Master Asia's and uses a custom Kowloon (Haow) Gundam. And then in episode 25, he uses a custom Master Gundam.

Faux Affably Evil: Before the battle against Sei and Reiji, he insists that Aila accepts China's good luck charm. He also threatens to take everything away from her life and willingly increases the output on the Embody System when she refuses to finish her opponents.

Four Eyes, Zero Soul: He wears glasses and has no qualms in increasing the output for the Embody System. See the tropes below for further details.

Knight of Cerebus: Whenever he gets focused on, expect the show to take a sharp turn into serious territory.

Lack of Empathy: Any sign of care he showed during his scouting trip disappear after convincing Aila to join the Flana Institute, as sees her as nothing but an opportunity for Team Nemesis to win Gunpla battles. He also knows that the dangerous Embody System is against the tournament rules, but given that the system could be hidden in a cosplay and that it would increase Aila's particle reaction time to 99.7%, he utilizes it anyway.

Manipulative Bastard: He forces Aila to undergo treatments and endless training, threatening to toss her out in the streets if she refuses. Keep in mind that Aila is an orphan.

Mind Rape: The Embody System he designs is meant to do just that. In addition to artifically increasing particle reaction time, it also forces the pilot to follow commands if he or she refuses to beat an opponent for whatever reason. Cases in point: Aila and Yuuki.

Mission Control: For Aila. Usually points out what the enemy is doing and issues battle plans.

Only in It for the Money: Nine regards himself as a mercenary and has no problems being extremely cruel to his test subjects due to the fact that other people are paying him big bucks to ensure he has them win.

Innocent Innuendo: Mentions to Tatsuya that it would be grateful if they ever did "that..." The next few frames continued this trope until it was revealed that she was just building her own Gunpla. In a cat maid outfit, no less.

Obfuscating Stupidity: Under that ditzy personality though lies a very caring maid as well as an anime nut. She managed to arrange for Tatsuya to end up in a gunpla battle with Takeshi Iori and so reignite his passion for gunpla.

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